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A postman who dumped thousands of letters over a four year period has avoided prison after a sheriff said the material was junk mail.

Kevin Ewing, 31, hid more than 5,000 items of mail between 2009 and 2014. He told Perth Sheriff Court he was finding it difficult to cope.

Ewing, from Perth, was caught after Royal Mail set up surveillance to monitor him.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis sentenced Ewing to carry out 300 hours' unpaid work.

He said: "It might be fair to say a significant number of these items might have ended up in the recycling anyway. It all falls within the category of what the public might call junk mail.

"You pled guilty at the first opportunity, you have co-operated and - to a lesser degree - taking into account the actual character of the items you failed to deliver I am persuaded to deal with it by the direct alternative to custody."

Among the items Ewing failed to deliver were 2,915 packages destined for one street.

He also admitted delaying 1,150 unaddressed door-to-door postal packets in 2013, which were recovered from a delivery frame and a car.

Ewing told the court he was struggling to deal with the pressure of work and his personal life.

He said: "I was finding it difficult to concentrate or cope with the demands of work and general daily life. I can genuinely say that when I did not deliver mail I had every intention of delivering it next day.

"Before I realised, things had become too bad to resolve and I felt unable to confide in anyone about what had happened. I took it upon myself to try and dispose of the mail I had not delivered.

"I realise how serious these charges are and I feel deeply ashamed of my actions. I feel sorry for the stress and anxieties I have caused for members of the public who have not received items of their post."